UEFA offer Ukraine two dates for play-off
UEFA have given Ukraine a choice of playing their World Cup play-off semi-final in Scotland on either May 31 or June 1, according to reports.
And European football’s governing body are set to confirm it will also count as a Nations League qualifier.
Scotland are still waiting to discover when the postponed match against the war-torn nation will be played at Hampden, with the winners due to face Wales in the final in Cardiff for a place in Qatar.
And reports in Ukraine have revealed UEFA have informed them the match will take place on either May 31 or June 1, with the Ukrainian FA being allowed to choose which date suits them best, due to their preparations being in disarray after their domestic-based players were given permission by their government to leave the country.
Scotland are due to play Ukraine in Glasgow on June 7 as a Nations League qualifier, but the earlier match will now count as a World Cup qualifier and a Nations League game to reduce the fixture backlog.
It would mean the SFA would lose out on around £2million from ticket sales and commercial support if the two games were turned into one.
And UEFA will still have to decide when the final in
Cardiff would take place, with Steve Clarke’s side also due to face Armenia on June 4 and Ireland in Dublin on June 11, before travelling to Armenia three days later.
Ukraine are trying to confirm a training camp so they can prepare to face the Scots, with Dynamo Kyiv players in Romania and Shakhtar Donetsk stars in Turkey — the vast majority of their 16 domestic players in their last squad come from those two clubs.
They are weighing up offers to base their squad in either Poland or Turkey, with the Polish FA offering to take care of all accommodation and travelling costs ahead of the game in Scotland.
Confirmation of a date would finally end any suggestion of Scotland and Wales offering Ukraine a bye to the finals, which has already been rejected by both Ukrainian FA president Andriy Pavelko and manager Oleksandr Petrakov.